ID Celebrates 20 Years of MDes + MBA Dual Degree Program
August 8, 2025
The Institute of Design (ID) celebrates the 20th anniversary of its dual Master of Design (MDes) and Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree program—a pioneering initiative that has redefined how designers approach complex business challenges.
Launched in 2005 as a collaboration between two schools at the Illinois Institute of Technology, ID and the Stuart School of Business, the dual degree program emerged from both student demand and a fundamental need. Today, we need leaders who can bridge strategic planning and creative problem-solving. Through the MDes + MBA at Illinois Tech, students earn two distinct degrees in just two years.
While business schools focus on breaking problems into parts, design schools emphasize creating solutions through innovative synthesis. The dual degree program teaches students to master both approaches.
Jeremy Alexis
Today, 25 percent of ID students pursue the dual degree. Graduates have found success in design firms seeking business rigor as well as traditional business roles benefiting from innovative thinking.
In 2007, Jeremy Alexis, Vice Provost for Academic Strategy & Associate Professor of Innovation, co-authored “Launching the Dual-Degree: Creating Business-Savvy Designers.”
He explained the MDes + MBA approach:
Building on this model of interdisciplinary education, ID introduced the Master of Design (MDes) and Master of Public Administration (MPA) program in 2020, bringing the same design-business integration approach to public sector challenges and policy innovation.
The success of these degree programs reflects ID’s 88-year commitment to breaking down disciplinary boundaries. Since László Moholy-Nagy founded the school as The New Bauhaus in 1937, ID has bridged disciplines to address complex challenges. As organizations increasingly recognize innovation as essential for survival, companies need leaders who combine business analysis and creative synthesis—exactly what these dual degree graduates are trained to do.
As the MDes + MBA program celebrates its 20th anniversary, it continues preparing leaders for our rapidly changing world, proving that the combination of design and business expertise creates the most effective problem-solvers for tomorrow’s challenges.